Q&A with candidates to replace Tennessee's Lamar Alexander in the U.S. Senate

I vote today stickers roll, in US elections on American flag. voting tile vote tile ballot sticker tile / Getty Images
I vote today stickers roll, in US elections on American flag. voting tile vote tile ballot sticker tile / Getty Images

The following is one in a series of survey responses provided to the Times Free Press by candidates for public office in advance of the Nov. 3 general election. Today we highlight the candidates for Tennessee's U.S. Senate seat. There is a pool of eleven candidates, five of whom responded to our survey. The candidates' answers are presented in alphabetical order. All candidates were offered an opportunity to submit a photograph, and five did so.

Tennessee - U.S. Senate

photo Marquita Bradshaw / Courtesy photo

* Name: Marquita Bradshaw

* Affiliation: Democrat

* Previous public office experience: None

* Why should voters choose you? I am running to represent working-class families in the U.S. Senate. I've spent my life advocating on behalf of working people, like myself, and I'm ready to take that fight to Washington. We need a government that looks out for us, not just the ultra-rich.

* What is the biggest challenge facing the office you seek? There's so much hatred and division in our country right now. It's coming from a small group of people who have hijacked the political process. They do not represent most Americans. Congress needs to work together in a bipartisan manner on the issues that matter most to working families.

* How will you address this challenge? We have more in common than we think, and we have to start the conversation by talking about the values we all share. We all want to make an honest wage that we can actually live on. We all want to breathe clean air and drink clean water. We all want our children to be educated in good schools. We all want our families to have access to affordable healthcare. We all want a transformative justice system that makes communities safer and doesn't act on racial bias. We all want to do more than just survive, we want to thrive.

* What policy position of yours might surprise people? I think most people are still surprised that my platform is based on environmental justice. I think as more people are meeting me and learning what I stand for, it's the thing that shocks people the most.

* Campaign website: www.marquitabradshaw.com

* Age on Election Day: 46

* Occupation: Caregiver

* Employer: Private

* Education: Graduate of the University of Memphis

* Family: Single mom to a grown son, Jacquest

* City of residence: Memphis

* Neighborhood of residence: South Memphis

* Church/civic involvement: Church of Christ

* Best phone number for voters to contact you: 901-295-8366

photo Yomi "Fapas" Faparusi / Courtesy photo

* Name: Yomi "Fapas" Faparusi

* Affiliation: Independent

* Previous public office experience: None

* Why should voters choose you? On my website, fapas4senate.com, I have position papers on key issues such as health care, economic recovery and the immigration crisis. I am going to put Tennesseans over partisan politics. I will not be obligated to either party but will focus on working across the aisles and reduce the bickering in DC.

* What is the biggest challenge facing the office you seek? The partisan divide in the country that has forced senators to please the extremes in each party (loud minority) rather than the American people (silent majority).

* How will you address this challenge? If elected, I will put my re-election chances on the line to do what's right. I will develop a relationship with my fellow Senators and leverage that to pass bills. Tennesseans over politics!

* What policy position of yours might surprise people? I do not believe a SCOTUS nominee's political ideology is relevant for confirmation. The judicial philosophy is more important. We do not need justices to make or take away laws - they should interpret it.

* Campaign website: www.fapas4senate.com

* Age on Election Day: 47

* Occupation: Physician and attorney

* Employer: Fapas Consults LLC

* Education: MD, JD, PhD

* Family: Wife (Yetunde) and three sons (Laolu, Baba and Yomi Jr)

* City of residence: Brentwood

* Neighborhood of residence: Bridgeton Park

* Church/civic involvement: Fellowship Bible Church, Brentwood

* Best phone number for voters to contact you: 615-927-7336

We may not know results on election night

Election night usually ends with results. This year will probably be different due to record-breaking early voting and the deluge of voting by mail-in ballots. Read more on how the Times Free Press plans to handle this and where we get information on election results.

photo Bill Hagerty / Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter

* Name: Jeffrey Alan Grunau (no response)

* Name: Bill Hagerty

* Affiliation: Republican

* Previous public office experience: Commissioner of Tennessee economic and community development; United States ambassador to Japan

* Why should voters choose you? I will stand with President Trump and Sen. [Marsha] Blackburn to defend our Tennessee conservative values from the left's socialist agenda. I will always support our law enforcement officers 120 percent and continue to hold China accountable. Tennessee values are conservative values, and I will bring those values to Washington.

* What is the biggest challenge facing the office you seek? Washington liberals want to lock us down until after Election Day and push our country over the cliff into socialism. We can't let that happen. We must get our economy going again and get people back to work. As your next senator, I'll stand with President Trump and Senator Blackburn to protect our Tennessee conservative values. I'll work to strengthen our economy, bring more jobs to our communities, stop illegal immigration, defend our Second Amendment rights, protect the unborn, hold China accountable, support Israel, help build the wall and stand for our law enforcement officers, our military and our veterans.

* How will you address this challenge? As Tennessee's chief economic leader from 2011 to 2014, I helped turn our state's economy around and become a national leader. I've done it before, and I'll do it again as your next senator. While the Democrats want to shut down our economy, I'll work with President Trump and Senator Blackburn to ensure it remains open. We can't afford another economic shutdown. Blue-state governors must re-open businesses so we can get folks back to work and get our economy going again.

* What policy position of yours might surprise people? I don't believe anyone will be surprised by my policy positions, because Tennessee values are conservative values. I'll work to bring more jobs to our communities, stop illegal immigration, defend our Second Amendment rights, protect the unborn, hold China accountable, support Israel and defend our American way of life.

* Campaign website: www.teamhagerty.com

* Age on Election Day: 61

* Occupation: Businessman

* Education: Vanderbilt University

* Family: Four children - two boys and two girls

* City of residence: Nashville

* Church/civic involvement: St. George's Episcopal Church

photo Ronnie Henley / Courtesy photo

* Name: Ronnie Henley

* Affiliation: Independent

* Previous public office experience: None

* Why should voters choose you? Reason I'm running to help everyone through hardships. I support federal job guarantee, Medicare for all, universal basic income, education reform, infrastructure plan, war on poverty, Green New Deal.

* What is the biggest challenge facing the office you seek? Creating an economy that works for everyone besides just the wealthy.

* How will you address this challenge? I will fight for passage/implementation of policies where everyone benefits.

* What policy position of yours might surprise people? I consider the effect on everyone when it comes to policies, and my position is determined by compassion.

* Campaign Facebook page: Ronnie Henley For U.S. Senate 2020

* Age on Election Day: 44

* Occupation: I am disabled but have experience in fast food, grocery, convenience, restaurant, retail, factory sectors, with plenty of life experience.

* Employer: Disability

* Education: Penn Foster High School graduate with honors in management, economics, personal computers, home inspection and children services.

* Family: No kids.

* City of residence: Newbern

* Church/civic involvement: Member of many cities, counties, states' Green Parties nationwide.

* Best phone number for voters to contact you: 731-613-3196

* Name: G. Dean Hill (no response)

* Name: Steven J. Hooper (no response)

photo Aaron James / Courtesy photo

* Name: Aaron James

* Affiliation: Independent

* Previous public office experience: None, but I see that as a good thing.

* Why should voters choose you? I believe we need real people in office, not groomed puppets. People who approach their legislative duties based on real world experience, not on who's pulling their strings. I am a retired architect descended from Tennessee pioneer stock, which means I have a logical mind and a healthy respect for objective reality.

* What is the biggest challenge facing the office you seek? When every senator, of both parties, signed an oath and took a pledge to adjudicate the impeachment impartially, and then "just so happened" to vote down party lines, that drove home just how broken the American political system truly is. If their word means nothing to them, why should we take any of their laws seriously?

* How will you address this challenge? Honor and duty mean nothing to career politicians, who have all apparently sold their souls - although it's impossible to say to whom or for what. I alone can have very little impact on that. All I know is we will not survive as a nation much longer by supporting the status quo. Every great movement starts with one spark. As your senator, I am offering myself as that spark. If other voters in other states can be moved to see beyond blind allegiance to the two-party system and vote real people into office too, then we could work together to bring functionality and responsibility back to Congress.

* What policy position of yours might surprise people? I am running for office on a platform of saving the environment, enacting strict political reforms and introducing sweeping improvements to public education. While I understand there are other issues at stake, these are the three on which I have decided to focus.

* Campaign website: www.AaronJames2020.com

* Age on Election Day: 57

* Occupation: Retired architect; self-published author

* City of residence: Memphis

* Name: Elizabeth McLeod (no response)

* Name: Kacey Morgan (no response)

* Name: Eric William Stansberry (no response)

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